Thursday, September 30, 2004

Cycling in Jakarta......

Priyanto never thought that selling soya bean milk on his bicycle was a tough job that required him to put his life at risk. Pedaling his old bicycle everyday from his home in Tambora, West Jakarta, to the National Monument (Monas) park, offices in Harmoni, Istiqlal Mosque and Senen market in Central Jakarta, the 34-year-old braved the vicious city traffic. 'Being bumped by motorcycles is a frequent experience during my four years of bicycling ... and they didn't even bother to stop,' Priyanto told The Jakarta Post while waiting for customers at the Istiqlal Mosque's compound recently.

City mulls possibility of bicycle laneResponding to calls from the public, the Jakarta Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD) will carry out a feasibility study to create bicycle lanes in the capital. 'The study is necessary to know if we need to revise gubernatorial decrees regulating streets,' the agency head Kosasih Wirahadikusumah told a press conference at City Hall on Friday in preparation for the Car-Free Day event on Sunday. Bicycles and non-motorized vehicles are an urban transportation option, he said, since they are environmentally friendly.

Car Free Day gets lukewarm responseCyclists cruised their way past joggers and pedestrians strolling leisurely along the quiet Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Thamrin in the fresh morning air. Here and there, groups of children played soccer, while their parents got in a bit of exercise.This scene, which would never happen on a weekday, played out on Sunday on the two main thoroughfares in Central Jakarta in commemoration of Car Free Day. Centered around the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, the event was a call for Jakartans to help reduce pollution by leaving their cars at home for the day. All motorized vehicles were barred from the streets' fast lanes from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.

"The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart." - Iris Murdoch

About

^That's me^ Believe or not

cileo is an slightly organised and irrevalent look at cycling and sustainable transport in Melbourne, Australia, overseas, and possibly all sorts of stray ephemera that gets caught in between. I adore bicycles (and kittycats), and as Wilf Lunn once uttered, "You learn something new every day if you're not careful....."